We Caught Trey’s Marlin in the Cherry Tree

If that title doesn’t catch your attention, well I don’t know what will.

As mentioned in this mornings blog, I had hoped Trey would share his Cherry Balsamic Glazed Grilled Marlin Recipe with me so I could share it with you. Well, he did share the recipe going one better to tell me the whole story, and what a GREAT Story it is.

On Saturday, Trey and his very wonderful girlfriend, Ashley, took a leisurely stroll down to the Strip District. For the non-Pittsburgher’s reading this–that’s the open fresh food market area known to every foodie in the city. According to Trey, “the sun was shining and the fresh produce was in abundance. We had no plans for the day, so we decided to spend the day cooking.” Trey has unlocked one of the secrets to having a great life: Createopportunities to spend ‘unplanned’ and ‘spontaneous’ days with your friends and family, and something good is going to happen or a great memory is going to be created. Everytime!

So, Trey and Ashley began their unplanned day by strolling through the busy Strip buying portobello mushrooms, onions, fresh zucchini and bell peppers. They then walked over to Mancini’s to get a nice fresh baguette for the bruschetta. Next they made their way over to Wholey’s to purchase freshly-trimmed Marlin filets. Finally, Trey relates, “Oh yeah, and we had to make one more stop at the East End Growler Shop at the Public Market in the Strip for some Pedal Pale Ale”.

I don’t know, this ‘unplanned’ day could not have been planned any better. Wish I had been there because it sounds like fun and the cooking hasn’t even begun yet! He wisely left out the rest of the story, but I’m speculating there was a nice ‘spontaneous’ lunch or cocktail along the way, or maybe an expresso and pastry at one of the Strip coffee shops. They probably explored some of the shops they had not been in before to check things out. I’m betting they were chatting about all kinds of fun things all day and then they got home and ‘planned’ their attack to prepare dinner for the night.

This is a good time for me to point out a paradox about planning on ‘unplanned days’. When you are planning something with your friends or family, like what you are going to cook that night, or the proper wine to serve with dinner, or ‘what to do next’, you are now introducing the concept of ‘collaboration with’ and ‘respect for the opinion and point of view of the people you choose to have around you. When you ask them about things that matter to you, you invite them into your life, and that’s what creates intimacy in any relationship. I know this seems easy to do, but consistently executing on these important concepts requires several skills many people are NOT naturally blessed with. For example, you have to first think to ask the opinion of others, then you have to carefully listen to them, then you might have to admit they have a great idea and then you might have to actually act on it. Worse yet, you might have to do things together during the execution part of the plan–you know, letting your friends or family be in charge of some things, helping out. You can see how this might be tough stuff for your ego and totally foreign to your need to control things around you. But once you have mastered those skills–you are beginning to cross the boundaries into a plethora of BFF’s (Best Friends Forever). I promise you that!

Back to Trey and Ashley’s unplanned day. He relays that “we decided to grill [the Marlin], since we already had the coals hot for the grilled vegetables.” Even I can see Trey has the some of the great cooking skills. Way to go Trey!

Here is his easy and super fantastic recipe. Try it. But try the ‘unplanned day’ too. They are both guaranteed to make any day special.

5. Reduce heat to medium low and cook until the mixture is reduced by one-fourth. About 6-8 minutes.

6. Cool glaze. Use half the glaze to marinate the Marlin for 30 minutes.

7. Reserve 6 tbsp of glaze in small bowl.

8. Place Marlin on grill and baste each side with glaze. After 3 minutes, flip the Marlin and baste the other side and let grill for 3 minutes.

Notes:

Marlin is available almost all year long and can be purchased in filets or cut into steaks. Either one of them will work in this recipe. Adjust the cooking time for the steaks to be just a minute longer on each side. This recipe was submitted for the My Recipe Collection by my friend Richard (Trey) Rabinek.